Accordion attachment



Feb. 27, 1940. A. s. BARTY ACCORDION ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 25, 1958 Of/AOQGOOOOQOOOQOOT 541176)? 5. Bari/ y Patented Feb. 27, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to a novel attachment for accordions intended to replace the hand engaging straps at the ends of an accordion and substituting therefor a hand rest having means 5 for slidably mounting it relatively to the end panel.

It is a primary aim of this invention to provide an attachment which may be readily applied to accordions, already in use, to facilitate the 10 movement of the hands for engagement with the keys. More particularly, it is an aim of this invention to provide a panel adapted to replace an end panel of an accordion and containing a slideway adapted to slidably mount a slide secured to hand rest for movably mounting the hand rest relatively to the accordion. Still a further object of the invention, is to provide an improved slideway having means for resisting the upward movement of the hand rest and for maintaining a predetermined amount of frictional resistance to the movement of the hand rest in either direction for better maintaining the hand in proper position for engagement with the keys.

This invention may be applied to either or both ends of the accordion, depending upon the type of accordion, and the slideway may beatt'ached directly to the conventional end panel of the accordion or the conventional end panel may be replaced by the applicants panel containing the slideway.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more clearly apparent from th following description of the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one end of an accordion with the invention 1 applied thereto, T

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, on an enlarged scale, showing the attachment assembled on the applicants end panel,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figures 4., and 6 are cross sectional views taken on the lines l-4, 5 -5 and 6--B, respectively, of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views, l designates generally a portion of a conventional accordion and II a series of keys or buttons at one end thereof, shown merely to illus- 55 trate the purpose of the attachment forming the invention which will hereinafter be described. The attachment designated generally l2 includes the panel [3 provided with a series of arcuately arranged openings l4 adjacent its top and bottom and the openings l5 one of which is disposed approximately, intermediate of the ends of each of the marginal sides thereof for a purpose which will hereinafter be described. Panel 13 is adapted to replace the conventional end panel of an. accordion and to be secured to the accordion by means of screw fastenings orthe like, not shown, which are adapted to be inserted through the openings l5.

A wear plate i6 is suitably secured longitudinally of the outer side of the panel l3 and is provided with the longitudinal side walls H and I8 secured to panel l3 and plate I6 by means of the rivets l9. As best seen in Figure 5, the side walls ll and i8 are provided with the inwardly extending flanges 2E3 at their outer edges forming the recesses or slots 2| for a purpose which will hereinafter be described. As seen in Figures 3, 4 and 5 the side wall It is mounted by three Spaced rivets [9 the upper two of which are movably mounted relatively to the panel 13 and the plate It by means of the slots 22, in said parts, and the wall I8 is pivotally mounted on the lower rivet so that the upper end of the wall may swing toward or away from the wall IT. A bracket 23 is mounted on the panel l3 adjacent the outer side 01' the wall l8 and is provided with a leaf type spring 24 which engages the outer side of the wall l8 adjacent its upper end to urge it inwardly of the plate l6 and toward the upper end of the wall ll.

A hand rest 25 has a slide 26 secured by means of the fastenings 21 to its underside, as best seen in Figure 3. Slide 26 is longitudinally disposed relatively to the hand rest 25 and is provided with the outwardly projecting flanges on its opposite sides and at its exposed face designated 28 which are adapted to engage the slots 2! formed by the flanges 20 to slidably mount slide 26 in the walls ll and i8, which form guide rails. The exposed face of the slide 26 engages the wear plate It which together with the walls I! and i8 form a slideway or guideway to reciprocally mount the hand rest 26 relatively to the panel l3 and. to an end of the accordion it).

As best seen in Figures 4 and 5, the longitudinal sides of the hand rest 25 are bent inwardly toward the panel i3, and as best seen in Figure 3 the ends 29 and 30 of the hand rest 25 are bent outwardly. A flexible strap 3i is secured at one of its ends to the end 29 by means of the plate 32 and the fastenings 33 while its free end is provided with the reinforcing plates 34 secured thereto by means of the fastenings 35, as best seen in Figure 6.- The free end of the strap 3| is provided with the cut-out portion 36 through which extends the rivet 31, which engages the plates 34. An end of a threaded bolt 38 is mounted on the rivet 31 between the plates 34 with its opposite end projecting through an opening 39 in the end 30 to be adjustably connected thereto by means of the nut 40. An expansion coil spring 4| is mounted on the shank of the bolt 38 between the plates 34 and the end 39 to urge the bolt 38 outwardly of the opening 39.

The hand rest is provided with the cut-out portion 42 at the upper end of its inner side 43 to permit the thumb of the players hand which engages the rest 25 to engage an air relief button, not shown, which projects through the opening 44 at the upper left hand corner of the panel I3, whenthe hand rest 25 is in an elevated position to release the air for collapsing the accordion ID.

A stop 45 is secured to the panel [3 below the wear plate l6 and is provided with a resilient engaging face 46 against which the lower end of the slide 26 is adapted to abut to limit the downward movement of the hand rest 25.

From the foregoing it will be seen, that the flanges 28 of the slide 26 may be inserted into the slots 2| at the upper end of the guideway by pressing outwardly on the wall or rail [8 after which the slide 26 may be moved up or down relatively to the panel l3 between the rails H and i8 to reciprocally mount the hand rest 25. The upward movement of the hand rest 25 will be resisted by the increased friction of the rails I? and I8 caused by the inward pressure of the spring 24 on the rail [8 to thereby require greater pressure or force in raising the hand rest to compensate for the weight of the accordion. While the hand rest 25 may be moved downwardly with greater ease, a frictional engagement will still be maintained so that the slide 26 can at no time move freely in the guideway thus preventing the hand rest 25 from accidentally carrying the hand out of engagement with the keys II to be engaged. The increased friction toward the upper end of the guideway will also minimize the possibility of the slide 26 accidentally moving out of engagement at the top of the guideway while the stop 45, as heretofore described, will prevent it from moving out of the lower end thereof.

The players hand is inserted between the hand rest 25 and the strap 3| from the left, of Figure 2, so that the fingers will extend around the curved side 43 and into a position for engagement with the keys ll while the thumb of the hand may be placed over the cut-out portion 42, as heretofore explained. The tension of the strap 3| may be varied by tightening or loosening the wing nut depending upon the size of the hand.

While the invention has been described as including the panel l3 it is to be understood that the guideway, comprising plate It and the rails l1 and I8 may be attached to a panel already in use on an accordion and the guideway may be made rigid and the spring 24 eliminated with the parts I6, I1 and I8 formed integral and a removable stop applied to the upper end of the panel to prevent the slide 26 from moving out of the upper end of the slideway accidentally.

Various other modifications and changes are likewise contemplated and may be resorted to and the right is therefore reserved to make such modifications as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

Iclaim as my invention:

1. An attachment for use with accordions, said attachment comprising a plate adapted to be secured to an end panel of an accordion, said plate being provided with longitudinally disposed sides having inwardly projecting flanges forming longitudinal slots, a hand rest provided with an adjustable hand retaining strap, a slide secured to said hand rest and provided with flanges to engage said slots for slidably mounting the hand rest on said panel, and spring means engaging one of said sides adjacent its upper end for urging it toward the other side to resist the upward movement of said slide.

2. An attachment for use with accordions, said attachment comprising a pair of tracks adapted to be mounted on an end panel of an accordion, one of said tracks being pivotally mounted at its lower end and provided with studs adjacent its opposite end, said panel being provided with slots adapted to be loosely engaged by said studs to limit the movement of said track. spring means normally urging the upper end of said track toward the other track, and a hand rest provided with a slide to engage said tracks, said spring means frictionally resisting the upward movement of the slide therein.

3. An attachment for use with accordions, said attachment comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel tracks connected to and disposed along an end panel of an accordion, a hand rest, a slide secured to said hand rest to slidably engage said tracks for slidably mounting the hand rest relatively to said panel, one of said tracks being pivotally mounted at one end, means for providing a limited swinging movement of the opposite end of said track, spring means for engaging and normally urging said last mentioned end toward the corresponding end of the other track, and said slide expanding said tracks against the action of said spring means, when moved toward said end.

4. A device of the class described comprising a pair of spaced tracks adapted to be secured to an end panel of an accordion, a hand rest, a slide secured to said hand rest to engage said tracks to slidably mount it relatively to said panel, one of said tracks being pivotally mounted at one end, means for limiting the swinging movement of the opposite end thereof, and spring means for engaging said last mentioned end to urge it toward the corresponding end of the other track to resist the movement of the slide toward said ends.

5. An attachment for use with accordions, said attachment comprising a pair of spaced tracks adapted to be secured to an end panel of an accordion, a hand rest, a slide secured to said hand rest for slidably engaging the tracks to slidably mount the hand rest relatively to the panel, one of said tracks being pivotally mounted at one end of said panel, means for limiting the swinging movement of the opposite end of said track relatively to said panel, spring means normally urging said last mentioned end toward the corresponding end of the other track for yieldably resisting the movement of said slide toward said ends, and a resilient abutment member secured to said panel adjacent the opposite ends of said tracks for limiting the movement of the slide in the other direction.

ALBERT S. BARTY. 

